Environmental problems
Bangladesh suffers from a wide range of environmental problems, arising from drought, flood and other natural hazards because of its geographical location. Frequency of hazards is on the increase day by day. The quality of soil has deteriorated due to excessive use of agrochemicals, unplanned land use, undesirable encroachment on forest areas for agriculture and settlements and indiscriminate disposal of hazardous industrial wastes. Unplanned land use and intrusion of saline water are causing degradation of soil in the coastal areas.
The surface water of the country is polluted through capricious disposal of untreated industrial effluents and municipal waste water, runoff pollution from chemical fertilisers and pesticides and oil and lubes spillage in the coastal areas from the operation of sea and river ports and ship wreckage. The arsenic concentration in the groundwater in many areas is a major problem in Bangladesh now. The problem is acute in shallow tube-wells extracting groundwater from 10 to 100 m depth in the Southeast, South- central (the northern part only), and Southwest regions, which creates problems of getting safe drinking water in villages.
Bangladesh has 57 trans-boundary rivers, of which 54 are shared with India and 3 with Myanmar. A significant amount of water flow is withdrawn and diverted upstream by neighbouring countries for irrigation and other purposes and thereby reducing normal flow of water. The Farakka Barrage on the river Ganges is a notable example. Desertification prevails in some north-western areas of Bangladesh due to withdrawal and diversion of upstream water in the dry season by India. Besides, due to the proposed Inter-basin River Link Project of India, when implemented, the annual water flow of Bangladesh will be drastically decreased which will have a profound negative impact on economy, society and environment of Bangladesh.
The most serious consequences of climatic change for Bangladesh will be a rise in sea level along the Bay of Bengal coasts, causing inundation and submerging of 10 to 20 percent of the coastal land including the Sundarbans, as well as saline intrusion in the rivers, affecting millions of people.
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